8 Minutes and 47 Seconds
by Oma-1
Summary: Sam & Jack are stuck in the elevator at the SGC, waiting for Siler to rescue them. Tag for S3 Foothold. Also contains spoilers for S3 POV. Chapter 2 now up.
1. Chapter 1

_**Eight Minutes and 47 Seconds**_

_AN: This little fic was inspired by __a comment from Mara-anni on the Ship Family Thread at Gateworld. She _said "… if I was Sam I would have rigged the elevators to get inexplicably stuck when it's just him and her in there uncommonly often...much to Siler's chagrin :D :D"_ It started out going to be all light and fluffy, with lots of Siler and his wrench and ended up…not. Ah well, such is life :p_

_Disclaimer: If only! _

_Spoilers for POV and Foothold._

_Rating: K_

* * *

The alarm sounded. The lights flashed. There was the sound of impatient booted, footsteps echoing off the walls. There was a disgruntled whisper. 

"Carter! Can you shut that noise up?"

"Don't worry, Sir. It's only the safety backups here in the elevator. I'm turning them off……now."

"Ah, that's better." The pacing stopped. "How long?"

"If Sgt Siler's on form, another 8 minutes and 47 seconds. Approximately."

"So, what do we do while we wait? I forgot my yo-yo." Jack confided.

Sam grinned at the disconsolate expression on her CO's face.

_SG-1_

_blink blink blink_

The little light was blinking again. Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman sighed and reached for the phone. "Sgt Siler please." He tapped a few keys on his computer hoping the light would turn off. No such luck.

"Sgt Siler here."

"It's blinking again."

"Again?!" Siler frowned. "That's the 3rd time this month."

"Uh huh. " Walter agreed wearily. "The first time it was the potato delivery, the second time it was Senator Kinsey. It's a good job the sound and camera failed that time. The language coming from the elevator shaft was atrocious – even by Marine standards."

"It surely was. I'm on it."

Siler strapped on his toolbelt, whirled his spanner (well, no one was looking and he was _so_ close to having the sequence from Yoda's battle with Dooku perfected now) and headed for the secondary elevator control panel on level 19.

SG-1

Both her sabotage rehearsals in the last few weeks had been just that. Rehearsals. The first to gauge how long it would take Siler to get the elevator moving again and to make sure there was no trace on the system of her tampering. The second had been necessitated because the security protocols on the camera had been a little more tricky than Sam had expected. Who'd have thought the elevator camera would have more levels of security than those in the VIP suite for crying out loud! She'd simply run out of time to hack around them on the first test before she ran the risk of being discovered.

General Hammond's orders that the base security be tested and reviewed after the recent foothold situation had not come as any surprise. Major Carter's current orders were to secretly hack into the base computer at an undisclosed location and to disable different systems to test the responsiveness of SGC personnel. This month, it was the elevators. The only people who knew about these orders were General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter.

"Running the second test on Senator Kinsey was a master stroke, don't ya think, Carter?" Jack drawled smugly.

"Genius, Sir." The look that passed between them was full of shared mirth. "It's a shame Maybourne wasn't here as well."

"Wasn't it though!"

Jack's smile dimmed as little as he watched Sam. He was grateful she was back to smiling at him. He remembered those few uncomfortable days after he'd come back through the quantum mirror when Sam hadn't smiled at him all. He knew it was his fault. He'd shocked and confused her - hell, maybe even scared her a little too when he'd allowed Dr Carter to kiss him. He'd seen her face as he came back through the mirror. Sam hadn't been aware that Dr Carter and the other Jack had been married, so she didn't understand the bond that had grown between them, that made him allow it. Jack however, had seen the fearful question in her eyes of "Is that how you see me?" He'd wanted to reassure her, but knew in all honesty, he couldn't. He _did_ feel that way about her.

Sam had stopped laughing and was watching Jack as his thoughts drifted. As his mind came back to the present, he was uncomfortably aware of her gaze. He was also intensely aware that they were alone in an elevator, for another seven minutes and 47 seconds. He sighed. Then he sat down.

"Take a load off Major, we've got another seven minutes and 38 seconds until Siler and his wrench come to rescue us. Exactly why are we doing this from inside the elevator, instead of, I don't know…" he waved his hand at the hard, cold floor "somewhere with comfy seats?"

"I wanted to see if I could disable the system from inside the elevator, Sir." Sam replied, taking a spot on the floor next to him. "I already know I can do it from any computer."

"Of course you did. And, of course you did…………Can we bring pie next time?"

"I won't have to do this from inside the elevator again, Sir. This phase of testing is over now, I just have to submit my report to General Hammond."

"It's not that I was complaining, you understand Carter."

"I understand, Sir." There was the smile again. He smiled back.

7 minutes to go.

6 minutes.

5 minutes.

The silence was beginning to wear on Sam. The minutes were ticking away and she still hadn't said anything.

4 and a half minutes.

"Actually Sir…..there was another reason for being inside the elevator." Sam started, hesitatingly.

Jack looked at her in surprise. "Oh?"

"Yes, Sir." She hesitated again.

"And that would be……?" Jack tried to encourage her, but the look on her face had him worried. Had she guessed how he felt? Suddenly, he didn't want pie anymore.

Sam turned to face him. It was now or never. She took a deep breath and forged ahead. "I needed to ask you a question, about Dr Carter." She met his eyes nervously. "You offered before, when she was here, if I needed to talk about it."

Jack remembered back to that moment. He nodded slowly and waited for her to continue, his eyes never leaving her face, knowing what question she was going to ask.

"Why did you let her kiss you?"

And there it was. Out in the open. Looking into her eyes, Jack knew he had to be honest. He spoke haltingly, unsure what to say or how to say it; just that he had to say the truth. "Because she was in pain, Sam. She was married to her Jack. They were celebrating their first wedding anniversary when the invasion began. He was killed a couple of days before she came through the mirror. She was missing him." He paused, taking a deep breath, knowing she needed to hear more. "We both knew I wasn't him; I _couldn't_ be him for her. But I couldn't refuse her that small amount of comfort. After all, Sam, she's…….. you."

As the tear spilled from Sam's eye, Jack lifted his hand and wiped it away. His hand lingered by her face as he attempted a small smile. Sam pressed her cheek into his palm and smiled back, accepting his gesture of comfort. She was coming to know more about this man, his tenderness and caring, and finding that she liked him. A lot.

2 minutes.

They sat, shoulder to shoulder, in comfortable silence, waiting to be rescued.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: I wasn't going to add a second chapter, I liked the angsty way the story finished :p But since it's Valenship and I__'m in an unusually fluffy mood, here's chapter 2 as requested._

* * *

1 minute 30 seconds 

Lulled into a sense of security by their easy silence, Sam glanced up at Jack's face – she couldn't resist looking at him. He'd taken her completely by surprise with the sincerity of his answer. She knew there was more hidden under the surface than he let people see, but she was startled at the extent he'd revealed himself to her. She was intrigued; not in the way she was by a puzzle or new device though. No, that didn't do Jack any justice at all. Rather she was intrigued because she was attracted emotionally now too.

'_Did that cryptic reply mean he'd allow me that sort of comfort?'_ Her eyes swiftly focussed on the floor as her brain went into hyperdrive! _'No!!!!! Don'tthinklikethat don'tthinklikethat don'tthinklikethat!' _Her heart was certainly beating fast enough without her brain adding to the mess! '_You can't go there!'_ she told herself, even while her thoughts fled back to the comforting hug Jack had given her when they first realised Daniel wasn't dead, they'd left him behind. _'If Mackenzie hadn't been there…….'_

"Sam."

_SG-1_

Jack was enjoying the companionable moment. Even though he knew it wouldn't last. He knew his 2IC far too well - he knew that clever brain of hers would analyse every syllable of what he just said and make it all add up.

He knew when she glanced up at him. He knew the moment she figured it out. He knew that her heart was pounding and her mind was flying. He knew he needed to say something before she completely panicked.

'_Panicking could be good though!'_ came the errant thought. '_She'd need comforting……'_

Jack ignored himself and concentrated on Carter. He called her name gently and waited for her to acknowledge him.

"Sam."

_SG-1_

She heard him call her name, but was seized with uncertainty. She looked at him hesitantly.

Sam's expression wiped all but one thought from his head. _'Huh! I confused Carter!'_ he thought gleefully. His mouth twisted wryly. "I'm not that hard to figure, surely."

"No, Sir. That's the problem."

"Ah……..Ya know, Carter. Some things just don't need to be analysed." He placed his finger on her pouting lips before she had chance to argue. "Just researched." He moved his finger to her chin and tilted her face up towards his.

The confusion was back. Jack smiled to himself. He leaned slowly towards Sam, giving her ample time realise what he was about to do. Giving himself time to assess her reactions. Her confusion was lifting, being replaced by a much more welcoming light in her beautiful eyes.

Their lips met, brushing gently. They both pulled back and smiled into one another's eyes.

BANG! BANG! BANG! The heavy metallic clang of Siler's wrench reverberated around the elevator. "Colonel! Major! I'll have you out of there real quick! "

Jack smiled into Sam's eyes, removed his finger from her chin, then winked. "No hurry Siler."


End file.
